Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Man United - Lyon

I was going to wait til after the Man United-Lyon match to write this blog...but instead I've decided to write my own commentary for the match as it happens! Purely for my own entertainment of course. Non-football fans probably shouldn't read any further.

The Man Utd line-up is a surpise..

Van der Sar

Brown Ferdinand Vidic Evra
Fletcher Carrick Anderson
Ronaldo Nani
Rooney

(but knowing those players, they'll all be switching places and driving Lyon crazy.. Bring it on!)


I'm sure Ronaldo will push forward as the second striker when needs be. I'm slightly surprised to see Hargreaves left out as Fergie tends to opt for him in Europe. I'm not a Fletcher fan but he has been in decent form lately so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt! Nani and Anderson have so much potential so I'm excited to see them both in the team tonight!
It won't be an easy game. Lyon are a very good team. Not great, but very good. I'm not going to predict the score, just the result...man united to win! I have faith!


And we're off....

Evra booked. Careful now... Juninho free-kick. Harmless. The refree is firey and slightly over-dramatic.. He should be entertaining to watch!

Damn..Barcelona have just scored in their tie with Celtic. I think the result is inevitable there but I hope Celtic fight as valiantly as they did a fortnight ago.

Ronaldo is working hard and breaks but despite his best efforts and many dummies, the final one doesn't pay off. Ronnie is devestatingly sexy even when he is disappointed in himself...Yum yum yum!

Lovely work by Ronaldo and Anderson! Lyon clear the danger but Ronaldo gestures at the crowd to up the volume!

Wild shot by Fletcher but at least it was a goal attempt (I think) ...

Lyon are getting a lot of men behind the ball and trying to crowd each United attack out. It is working fairly well so far.

Lyon finally get the ball in United's half.. Benzema shoots high and wide from distance.

Free-kick to United in Ronaldo territory......... Ohh, not quite. It hits the wall and Rooney hits the rebound out of play. Goal kick.

Yellow card for Lyon player Grosso (nice name!) for dissent.

Stunning passing from United. That's why I love Carrick in our team!

Corner to United. Cross by Nani. Lyon clear.

Lyon break but United handle the pressure well. Lyon show they have some fire in their bellies yet.

More pressure by Lyon. They're menacing when they are on the ball. The United defence must not go to sleep!

Another Ronaldo free-kick.... Hits the wall again. Vidic hits the rebound this time. Row Z.

Fletcher the the Lyon goalie colide going for the ball. The ref has a word but all is good.

Man United corner materialises to nothing...

GOAL !!!!!! RONALDO !!!!!! Goal mouth scramble. Ronaldo thinks quickest! Ah it's lovely to see him smile :-) He's been frustrated up until now..
That makes it 30 goals for Ronaldo this season. INCREDIBLE.

Yellow for Nani at the other end of the pitch. Seems a little harsh but it was a clumsy tackle.

Juninho takes the free-kick. Van der Sar clears. United start to break but the ball goes out of play..


HALF-TIME Man United 1 - 0 Lyon (2-1 AGG)

Burrr.. Just heard the local weather forecast here in Lucan. Temps between -2 and 2 degrees celcius. Fun... I better fill the hot water bottles again.

The game belongs to United but I can't see Lyon accepting that just yet. It's gonna be an interesting second half.


And we're back...

Fergie is smiling :-) I wonder why...ha

Scrappy. Lots of early play in the middle of the pitch.

Ronaldo looks a little uncomfortable following a challenge by a Lyon player a few mins ago. Tevez is warming up on the side-lines.

United are doing some defending. Ronaldo is helping out now. Lyon can't create anything, thankfully.

United press but Lyon push them back. Still, its comfortable for United.

Squillaci booked for Lyon. Foul on Nani.

Free-kick to Lyon just inside the United half. Drilled by Juninho. Corner resulting in mile-wide shot by Ben Arfa (who I reckon is a cool, promising young player).

Throw-in to Lyon near corner flag. Lyon players try a one-two. Off-side.

Shot by Nani. Nice idea but execution didn't quite match.

Possession is zig-zagging. Some lovely interceptions by Fletcher. A little sloppy from Ronaldo.

Lyon are looking to make a substitution. Govou is coming off. Keita on.

Tevez is coming on for United...Yay! Lyon have a half-chance will Tevez prepares himself.
Anderson is being withdrawn. Aw, he looks quite down but he did well!

Lyon break with some great passing. Corner. Bad corner.

United break now! End to end stuff. Great work by Rooney and tries to pass to Tevez but just over-hits it.

Fletcher booked for foul on Ben Arfa.

Lyon break again. Great shot by Keita but it comes back off the post.

United again. Lyon keeper does well. Corner. Lyon clear.

Another corner. Same outcome.

Lyon aren't giving up. Fred, their Brazilian striker is coming on for Kallstrom, a midfielder.

10 minutes left. Still plenty of football left to be played.

Lyon free-kick. Juninho. Way, way off target yet again.

Great break by United... but Rooney over-elaborates :/ Lots of action in the Lyon half.

Ronaldo, my sweetheart, doesn't quite get his cross right. I'll gladly console him for a min.

Just hearing that Arsenal have scored against Milan.. :O

Ronaldo is being substituted now. Hargreaves is on.

Goal-kick byVan der Sar.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! We're through to the quarters !!!

The Arsenal result has just been announced at Old Trafford. They've managed to score again in after time. Milan 0- 2 Arsenal. The whole crowd breath in deeply in disbelief. Fair dues to Wenger and his boys though.
Celtic go out, as expected.

I'm pretty happy with the night overall :-)


Reason for the photo ?? Just because! :P




Sweet dreams.....

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